Abstract

One variation of vertical jump (VJ) training is resisted or weighted jump training, where wearable resistance (WR) enables jumping to be overloaded in a movement specific manner. A two-way analysis of variance with Bonferroni post hoc contrasts was used to determine the acute changes in VJ performance with differing load magnitudes and load placements. Kinematic and kinetic data were quantified using a force plate and contact mat. Twenty sport active subjects (age: 27.8 ± 3.8 years; body mass (BM): 70.2 ± 12.2 kg; height: 1.74 ± 0.78 m) volunteered to participate in the study. Subjects performed the counter movement jump (CMJ), drop jump (DJ) and pogo jump (PJ) wearing no resistance, 3% or 6% BM affixed to the upper or lower body. The main finding in terms of the landing phase was that the effect of WR was non-significant (P > .05) on peak ground reaction force. With regard to the propulsive phase the main findings were that for both the CMJ and DJ, WR resulted in a significant (P< .05) decrease in jump height (CMJ: −12% to −17%, DJ: −10% to −14%); relative peak power (CMJ: −8% to −17%, DJ: −7% to −10%); and peak velocity (CMJ: −4% to −7%, DJ: −3% to −8%); while PJ reactive strength index was significantly reduced (−15% to −21%) with all WR conditions. Consideration should be given to the inclusion of WR in sports where VJ’s are important components as it may provide a novel movement specific training stimulus.